The Hat Game
by HolyHogMonkey
Summary: Lame title. Whatever. Just an AU one-shot of our favourite group of friends getting together for a drinking game similar to Truth or Dare - only with alcohol and tongues instead of Truth. Rated T for suggestive language and drinking.


_**Licking cats and eating muffins**_

_AU: No HiME storyline, no powers, no Fuuka Academy, just a bunch of old high school friends getting together for a fun-filled evening of drinking games and make out sessions._

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><p>A rapping fell on the front door with an eager rhythm. Shizuru finished tying her hair behind her head and moved to the entrance of her small student apartment. Peeking through the peep-hole, she smiled fondly.<p>

"Come in!" Shizuru beamed. Her friend, Natsuki Kuga, stepped in through the threshold and handed her host an elegantly wrapped box. "Oh, thank you, Natsuki."

Traditionally, the two exchanged small boxes of chocolate whenever they got together. Their friendship had spread over the course of two years; they'd met in junior high, Shizuru as a sophomore and Natsuki as a freshman. Their bond was slow to take flight but right from the beginning a spark had ignited them and promised potential.

Looking at the box, Shizuru surmised Natsuki had had it wrapped in the shop. Through their friendship she had learned of Natsuki's pathetically unorganized and sloppy tendencies. Regardless, Shizuru appreciated the effort to impress.

"I baked banana muffins," Shizuru announced, opening a plastic container on the counter in her small kitchen.

"They got chocolate chips?" came Natsuki's reply as she flopped down on Shizuru's beige, microfibre couch.

"Not if you're going to eat them on my 310,000 yen lounge set."

Natsuki took a moment to consider the options, and gave in to the temptation of the muffins.

"That's right. You know you want to eat my muffins."

Natsuki stopped mid-step and looked at her friend. A moment passed, a blush fighting to spread on her cheeks, until she burst into a hearty snicker and grabbed one of the home-baked cakes. "Don't be such a dyke, lezzie."

Shizuru's face fell into a sad pout. She'd perfected a natural look of hurt over the years, and at times like this the act came in quite handy. Natsuki met Shizuru's pitiful expression with a look of guilt on her face. The girl raised a hand in a gesture to apologize.

"Would my Natsuki really hate me so much if I were attracted to other women?"

"What? Oh, well no, but I mean, I know you're not. Come on, Shiz, I was just teasing."

Shizuru's eyes fell to the ground. Her pout lingered. She waited for Natsuki to come forward, just a bit, in an effort to console her. "Well, Natsuki, it's good to know I'm not the only one who can do so." She looked up and winked. "But I'm still the best."

"O-oi, Shiz! Ah damn it." Natsuki turned and flopped back down on the couch. To spite Shizuru, she gulped down the muffin with one bite, carelessly flicking crumbs onto the floor.

Shizuru joined her friend, who sat in a slightly more open position. While Natsuki was considerably more rough and masculine, she wasn't entirely unfeminine, either. She kept a lot of her body movements restricted and close to her body unless she was agitated, and Shizuru found the blend alarmingly attractive. It was in those quiet moments when Natsuki was feeling particularly ashamed or embarrassed that she revealed her truly adorable personality traits – and it only took a carefully delivered tease to bring them out.

"Natsuki is looking quite pretty today," Shizuru chimed, eyes looking her friend up and down in an alluring fashion.

"Eh, knock it off, would ya?" There it was. That classic blush. "You're creeping me out!"

"I'm sorry. I just thought I'd let you know. Is there any particular reason you decided to dress up nicer today?" She gave an effective pause. "Perhaps a date later in the day you haven't told me about?"

"What? No! Yeah right. Besides, Shiz, since when was it our responsibility to tell each other about our love lives?"

Shizuru hummed. "Oh, I was just so sure that was something friends do, but I suppose I was mistaken."

Natsuki laughed. "Well then, do _you_ have any special plans coming up? As I recall, I've never heard you talk to me about any kind of romantic involvement."

Her cheeks tingled with warmth as she quickly thought to deflect the question. "Natsuki has never asked." She gave a dismayed sigh. "I guess that sort of thing just isn't one of your biggest interests."

"I just did."

The tables were slowly turning. Shizuru had set up a conversation to mess around with Natsuki's head only to find the walls were closing in on her. This was bad. Normally this didn't happen. Shizuru didn't lose, dialectics were her strong-suit!

"Shizuru," Natsuki smiled slyly. "Do you have a date?"

Shizuru blushed. Maybe this was her out. If she couldn't bring Natsuki down in a battle of words, she could at least escape unscathed. She decided not to respond and let her rival in dialogue come to her own conclusions.

"Who is he? Tell me it's not Kanzaki."

"It's not Kanzaki."

"So it's someone?"

"It could be. It might not be. It could be your imagination pulling words from my mouth."

"What?" Natsuki cocked her eyebrows. "Damn it, Shizuru, are you screwing around with me again?" Shizuru beamed. _Checkmate._ "I told you, I'm not interested in the least in your little word games. Leave that stuff for your debate class."

"But I need to practise outside of school. Won't Natsuki help me study after all those hours I put in doing her homework?"

Natsuki groaned. "Look, you're smarter than me, I admit it." She raised her arms in surrender for emphasis. "You don't need to rub your uncanny language skills in my face."

"Well, if you'd like the balance the scales, you could challenge me in an area more fitting to your ... skills."

Natsuki eyed her suspiciously. "I'm not sure exactly what you mean," she said slowly. Then her face lit up with mischief. He eyes narrowed in a dangerous smirk. Shizuru knew exactly what she'd gotten herself into before she even opened her mouth, but if it would make Natsuki happy, she'd wrestle.

Natsuki leaped forward like a wolf rounding on its prey. Shizuru squealed as she fell, crashing onto the floor with a thud under the weight on her friend. The next thing she knew she'd been manipulated into a very uncomfortable position, her head trapped under Natsuki's leg, torso folded over her own legs. She could feel the power in Natsuki's limbs gently holding her from moving. The fighter's eyes shine with victory and Shizuru tapped the floor, bringing her release.

She sat a moment rubbing her neck. As Natsuki stood to return to the couch, Shizuru jumped to her feet and without any warning had manoeuvred herself onto Natsuki's back, trying desperately to push the girl to her knees. It didn't work. Natsuki steadied herself and gave Shizuru a confused look.

"What are you doing?"

"Uun, piggy back?" She had an innocent smile on her face.

Natsuki shuffled her shoulders, forcing Shizuru to slide down. "Get the hell off weirdo. What were you even trying to do?"

"Well, I thought I'd go for a trip and pin your down but then I thought taking you by surprise might work better if I just weigh you down."

"No."

"Yeah, I guess not."

"Want to take this outside?"

Shizuru tapped her chin and flipped her gaze out her wide window. The sun was beating down but she could see people walking about in long-sleeved tops and light jackets. The day looked nice enough, but somehow she was enjoying her time inside with her friend. She shook her head.

"Well, alright then. What do you propose we do, Steve Austin?"

Shizuru thought for another moment. Her head slowly turned over to face Natsuki. A smile graced her lips. "I have some Russian Standard. We could play a drinking game."

Natsuki's mouth dropped. "Damn, university's done something good to you!"

At five o'clock in the afternoon, it wasn't too horribly late to start drinking. The two set up shots and agreed to a game: the Hat Game. It was one Natsuki's friends had introduced to her. The group takes a hat, any old hat. They cut up small squares of paper ... any paper. Each person, using a pen, writes a dare on each piece of paper they are given – any dare. These dares usually consist of acts altogether gruesome, distasteful, or embarrassing – sometimes all of the above. Then all of the pieces of paper are placed in the hat. The hat is shaken and the group goes around, one at a time, removing a piece of paper. If they do whatever action they read on the slip, they're free to move on unpunished. However, if they don't, they are required to perform the designated punishment action: usually involving a shot of some kind of heavy alcohol and depending on the group, a punch to the gut.

With just Shizuru and Natsuki playing, the rules of the game were obviously toned down. Shizuru held the hat above Natsuki's head as her friend shuffled through, pulling out a folded piece of paper.

"Lick Shizuru's cat," Natsuki read.

Shizuru cracked with laughter. Natsuki gave an exasperated sigh. "Really, Shiz?"

Natsuki stood and disappeared into the hall. Shizuru could hear her shuffling around in her room until she returned with a grey bundle of fur in her arms. Delicately, she cradled the animal. Natsuki was not fond of felines, and Shizuru knew that. She was hoping Natsuki would be the victim of this dare. The animal looked up at Natsuki with pleading eyes.

"Ooh, Chiyo-Chiyo-san. You're going to hate me soo much more than you already do." The cat gave a pitiful meow.

Holding her around the chest, Natsuki lifted the cat in front of her face. Taking a gulp of air, she brought the squirming cat closer to her face. She opened her mouth, stuck her tongue out and ... "I can't do this!" She dropped the cat, letting her scamper off with a hiss back into Shizuru's room. Natsuki grabbed the bottle of vodka on the table and took a deep swig.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Giving up on the first round. At this rate you'll be swimming with the fish by six o'clock!"

"Hey, what do you say we invite some others over? Like, Nao, and Mai?"

Shizuru's heart sank. "Am I not interesting enough?"

"No, you're dreadfully boring, Shizuru. Here, where's my phone? I'll text them."

Was it some kind of bitter irony that this time, Shizuru was not teasing?

An hour later and Shizuru greeted Mai at the door. She bowed and thanked her as she handed Shizuru a fruitcake she'd baked herself that afternoon. Behind Mai came Midori, a bottle of rum already started. She handed Shizuru a mickey of Black Sheep spiced rum and danced over to the entertainment unit. Fidgeting with the sound system for a moment, her ass started shaking to the fast beat pumping through the room.

Another knocking came to their ears and Shizuru welcomed Aoi and Chie into the apartment. The two girls gave a bow as Chie handed Shizuru a bag of Doritos. They removed their shoes and joined the growing party. It didn't take Chie long to have a set of strobe lights flashing about the room. Aoi closed the blinds, blocking off the dying sun and the room was dark except for the lights.

The hat made the rounds: Aoi had to strip down to her bra and shout out to passersby from the window; Chie was given the ultimatum of taking two shots or sucking on Mai's big toe – naturally, the perverted woman chose the toe.

At 9:00 someone knocked on the door again. This time Natsuki stood, wobbling, to answer it. By this point the game had split off to only three players – the others had started drinking and screwing around on their own. Shizuru sat with a sweet, hospitable smile on her face, nursing the bottle of rum Midori had given her. If she felt uneasy or resentful about the crowd, she hardly showed it.

Nao strut past the scowling Natsuki, followed by two strange guys. Of course the girl would come with an entourage of male admirers. Shizuru couldn't have expected any less. At the sight of male guests Midori screeched a suggestion to invite some other guys, and forty minutes later Tate, Reito, and Takeda came sauntering into the room.

"So how does this 'hat game' work?" Takeda asked, sitting at the table with Shizuru, Natsuki, Mai and Midori.

Midori passed him the hat, instructing him to take a piece of paper. He complied and read it, his face draining of colour. He looked up at Shizuru with the eyes of a deer in the headlights. Midori leaned over to look and burst out laughing. She took the slip of paper from his hand, returned it to the hat, and diligently passed him the bottle of vodka.

"Drink up, Romeo," she said.

The hat made its way around a growing group of players. Nao pulled a slip from the hat and grinned, glancing next to her at Natsuki. Natsuki's eyes cautiously met the girl's seductive gaze as Nao licked her lips. Natsuki sat frozen as Nao leaned in close. All eyes fell on the two as Nao's tongue caressed Natsuki's ear lobe and began sucking on it. Shizuru watched the event unfold, heart pounding, as Natsuki's eyes clearly revealed that she was shamefully enjoying the experience.

"What the hell Yuuki!" Snapping back into reality, the drunken Natsuki slammed her fist into Nao's cheek, sending her flying backwards with a wail.

The girl responded with a slew of curses. "You fucking enjoyed it, you dyke, and you know it!"

Laughter filled the room as Natsuki took her turn unfolding a command. Shizuru watched as her friend gazed at the piece of paper. Then Natsuki met Shizuru's eyes, cheeks as red as cherries, a small, reluctant smile on her face. She turned the paper towards Shizuru, revealing the words: "Kiss Shizuru with tongue for twenty seconds."

Shizuru's heart pounded. She smiled humbly. "You don't have to."

"Un, I'd recommend she does whatever she's told. Look at her!" Midori swelled. Natsuki was swaying on the couch, hardly able to keep herself still. "Any more and she might mag."

"Why, what is it?" Mai asked innocently.

Shizuru's face went red and Natsuki started to lean in closer. She watched as the drunken girl's lips parted; Shizuru made to do the same when she suddenly pushed a hand against Natsuki's chest and stood.

"I can't."

"Aaah come on!" Takeda yelled. All the men in the room had turned their attention, leaning in expectantly. As a matter of fact, everyone in the room had given the two girls their full attention.

"Shizuru, you're such a prude! Come on, kiss the girl!" yelled Chie, slurring her words.

Shizuru gazed around the room, suddenly feeling the effects of the moderate amount of liquor she'd drank. The room swelled and she swayed, holding out a hand to balance herself. And with that she stepped past Natsuki, over Nao, and swept herself away into her bedroom.

Through the thin wall separating her room and the living room, she could hear the others talking about her sudden outburst – minor compared to the average person but for her, it would have been the same as seeing Natsuki throw a screaming fit.

"Jeez, way to scare off your best friend, queer," came Nao's voice, followed by a slew of loud, incomprehensible words from Natsuki.

"Natsuki, chill! We're not accusing you of being gay or anything, Nao's just being Nao," came the soothing voice of Mai. Midori followed with a rather sexual follow-up, something about Natsuki being a sexy lesbian, only to receive an even more livid response from the dark-haired girl.

"Maybe you should go see if Shizuru-san is okay, Natsuki," came Aoi's voice.

"Yeah! Kiss and make up!" squealed Chie.

Shizuru stuffed the pillow over her ears, drowning out the words, but she could still hear them talking. What had this night come to? Her stomach lurched and churned and bubbled. She couldn't close her eyes without feeling like she was riding the most horrifying roller coaster. She couldn't stay lying down either, so she sat up on the edge of her bed, holding the pillow to her stomach. Why did she have to let this happen? Why was Natsuki so unsatisfied spending time alone with her? Did she know Shizuru had feelings for her? The thought made her stomach churn even more.

Just then the door softly swung open. Shizuru looked up to see Natsuki's timid face peeking in from behind the door. She muttered something about the others insisting she check on her and getting no response, Natsuki stepped inside, closing the door. She slowly padded across he small room, hovered by the foot of the bed, and then sat a foot or two away from Shizuru.

"I'm sorry, Shiz. I didn't think you were that against kissing girls. You know, it was all just for fun. You know I'd never actually do something like that right?" Natsuki's words came out all at once, slurred slightly by her drunken state – she was clearly nervous.

Shizuru turned away from Natsuki. She wanted to cry. This was not how it was supposed to happen. She was not supposed to kiss Natsuki when they were drunk, in front of a bunch of people. And Natsuki took her rejection as a sign that she was stoically against same-sex relations. Oh, contraire. If only she had the nerves to tell her precious friend.

"Natsuki – " Shizuru started, but she couldn't finish her thought. She was tipsy, and Natsuki was straight-up shit-faced. The girl still couldn't hold herself steady.

Just then, a look of sheer terror covered Natsuki's face. It only took Shizuru a split second to know what was about to happen. She lunged forward and brought her garbage pale in front of Natsuki as the girl got sick. Shizuru turned away, cringing at the sound.

"I'm sorry!" Natsuki wailed when she was finished. She started throwing up some more and apologized again. "I'm so sorry Shizuru, I'll go clean up." With that the younger girl was gone. Shizuru could hear their friends laughing in the living room as Natsuki opened the door.

"Kiss and make up! Not kiss and throw up!" yelled Chie from the next room.

Shizuru gave a heavy sigh, stood, and returned to the living room. What did she do to deserve such terrible friends? Standing before the gathering, all eyes turned to her.

"I'm sorry, but I think you all need to leave. It's getting late."

"It's only 1am. Bars haven't even closed yet," Nao complained. The others complied and started to gather their things.

"I'm sorry, Shizuru," Mai said, a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I didn't mean for this night to go so badly."

"It's fine," Shizuru responded, trying to sound sincere. "It's no one's fault. Natsuki just drank too much, and I think I should probably take care of her. Thank you all for coming!" she put on her most charming, hospitable smile as the last of the guests closed the door behind them.

The bathroom door slid open. Natsuki appeared, hunched over, eyes drooping and hands over her gut.

"I don't feel well."

Shizuru smiled and laughed, in spite of the evening. "No surprise there, Captain Obvious."

Natsuki looked up, giving her a soft, fatigued smile. "You're not mad?"

Shizuru gave a small sigh. "It wasn't exactly the sort of evening I expected. But, at least now I can nurse Natsuki to health in my own bed."

A tinge of faint pink streaked across Natsuki's face as she gave her friend a sincere and grateful smile. "You know, this is probably crazy drunk talk, but sometimes I think you really do have a crush on me."

Panic struck Shizuru's chest. Composure played on her face as though the comment hadn't even sunk skin-deep. "You shouldn't be so full of yourself, Natsuki, it's not a very attractive trait."

Natsuki laughed. She started towards the bedroom door and stopped next to Shizuru. Without looking at her, she said warmly: "I wouldn't be upset, though. If you did."

Shizuru stood paralysed in the small hallway as Natsuki crawled under the covers of the double bed. Finally she followed her friend, crawling in behind her, careful not to touch her. She felt stiff and anxious. Was that just drunk talk?

While Natsuki gently snored through a hangover, Shizuru sat awake, gazing at the ceiling and occasionally looking over at her friend. Sleep just wouldn't come to her that night. Her mind was laden with troubled and anxious thought. Just as the sun started to peek though the blinds, casting a dim reddish-orange glow about the room, Natsuki stirred and turned to face Shizuru. She smiled at her friend and rubbed her eyes.

"How do you feel?" Shizuru asked.

"Hung over," came a gruff reply.

Shizuru nodded with a thin smile as Natsuki rolled over to face her, both girls still careful not to touch the other.

"How much do you remember from last night?"

A full blush covered Natsuki's cheeks. "Well," she hesitated. "I remember we almost kissed." She met Shizuru's gaze. He cheeks were growing warmer, her heart pounding. Did she remember what she said before she fell asleep?

"But, we didn't actually, did we?"

"No," Shizuru replied.

Natsuki gave a small sigh and rolled slightly onto her back. She'd stripped down to a white camisole sometime in the night. Shizuru herself was still in the clothes she'd worn the night before. Natsuki looked so beautiful – from that position Shizuru could see the side of her small breast. It took all of her will not to reach over and discover the rest. Natsuki turned and Shizuru realized she'd been caught staring. Her eyes snapped back up to Natsuki's, cheeks fully red now. Natsuki turned back onto her shoulder to face her.

"You do like me, don't you?"

Shizuru lay paralysed. The smile was fading on Natsuki's face as the girl searched her eyes for an answer. What was she supposed to say? Her heart pounded. Then the world stopped – Natsuki slid her hand across the space between them and gently laid it on Shizuru's. She pulled in closer, eyes gazing into her own, lips parting, as they touched Shizuru's – gently at first, and she pulled away. Shizuru reopened her eyes, meeting Natsuki's green orbs not an inch away from her own. Natsuki had just kissed Shizuru. The girl's heart raced. Was she dreaming? Then it happened again. Natsuki put her lips back onto hers, this time with more force. They lingered, their tongues seeking the other's mouth for what felt like an eternity, until Natsuki parted. She pulled away and searched Shizuru's eyes for some kind of response.

"I'm sorry, Shizuru. I love you."

As though broken from a spell, Shizuru brought her hand up to Natsuki's cheek and pulled the girl in for another kiss. She pushed her tongue into Natsuki's mouth and rolled onto her back, pulling Natsuki on top of her.

"I've dreamed for so long of hearing those words, Natsuki," she whispered between kisses.

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><p><em>Yeah so this one ends terribly corny. Cue the saxophone. I'm still working on <em>Shizuru's Prelude_, I just don't feel like it right now. I have some other one-shots cooking as well... most likely Shiz/Nat or Nat/Nao, and one Valentine's Day Tate/Mai one-shot. Whoo Heterosexuality!_

_I'm open for prompts – pictures, themes, words, whatever. Lemme know and I'll try to make it interesting! This one was based on a picture I found of Shizuru and Natsuki making out in the red light of the sun creeping through bedroom blinds. It was painfully cute. _

_The title is dumb. Also, the hat game is one my old roommates used to play. I ended up having to lick my cat and suck on my roommate's toe because I hate flavoured vodka with a passion. XP It's a fun game, you should try it xD _


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